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 While our country is unimaginably vast (and beautiful and diverse and inspiring), Canada’s business events community is a small, close-knit group of people who work together tirelessly to share their love of Canada, and the benefits of hosting meetings, conferences and incentive events here. This proud group usually spend their lives on the road, meeting customers, sharing stories of Canadian innovation, adventure and iconic destinations—all to inspire the world to meet, engage and explore in Canada.
Like you, they are staying at home and finding new and innovative ways to bring Canada to you no matter where you are in the world. We are delighted to feature some of the unique ways Team Canada has pivoted to virtual FAMs, tours and experiences, how our partners are planning for the eventual safe return of in-person events, and the exciting plans already underway for the future.
We know we will meet in person again, but until then, Team Canada will be online, at the other end of the phone, or a simple email connection away.
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Chantal Sturk-Nadeau
Executive Director, Business Events
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Find inspiration for your future events: Time for Canada
Help guide our restart to meeting in Canada
As we prepare for the return of business events to Canada, we want to hear your thoughts on the safe resumption of meeting, incentive and conference travel. In the coming days we will be sharing a short, online survey and look forward to receiving your input on how we can best prepare to welcome the return of business events when the time is right.
The evolution of Calgary's BMO Centre
Calgary’s iconic BMO Centre recently announced a $500 million expansion, which will increase its total floor space to approximately one million square feet, more than doubling its current capacity. When complete in 2024, the BMO Centre will be the largest conference facility in western Canada, elevating Calgary to a top-tier destination for international meetings and conventions. See the proposed design here.
Palais des congrès de Montréal launches Palais Média Propulsion Studio
Palais des congrès de Montréal announces Palais Média Propulsion — a high-tech digital studio in response to the growing needs of digital and hybrid events
This week, the Palais des congrès de Montréal unveils its latest strategic initiative aimed at shaping the convention centre of the future: a video and podcast studio designed for content creation as well as live and on-demand streaming. The state-of-the-art facilities will be made available to organizers looking to host hybrid events (both live and virtual) and to generate and capture compelling content that will drive further interactions on the web, social media and other platforms. Read more.
Québec City innovates their planner FAM
Planners discovered what Québec City offers meetings, incentives and conferences during a virtual FAM hosted by Québec City Business Destination
The world may have stopped travelling in mid-March, but that didn’t mean meeting planners couldn’t travel….virtually to La Belle Province. Over 80 event planners from across Canada and the United States registered to participate in Québec City’s virtual FAM—a first for the Canadian event industry.
The event, hosted online over the course of three days included exclusive online access to live webinars, curated presentations, virtual tours of the city, hotels and venues, wellness activities, recommendations from destination management and meeting and incentive companies. Missed the event? Experience Québec City’s online FAM here.
Canadian resorts ranked amongst the world's best
Ranked #1 on the top 10 resorts in Canada list and #3 best hotel on the planet by Travel & Leisure, Fogo Island Inn dazzles with its edge-of-the-earth location and clean-lined aesthetic
Captivating locations with inspired experiences. Out of the way, but not entirely off the grid. Canada’s luxury, incentive resorts are intimate and exclusive, offering visitors experiences that capitalize on Canada’s vast natural beauty and still-wild wonders. Discover why the Lodge at Cabot, the Wickaninnish Inn and others rank amongst Travel & Leisure’s top 10 resorts in Canada, and why Fogo Island Inn not only capped the T&L Canadian list, but also captured the number three spot on T&L’s best hotel on the planet list.
Bring the Toronto experience to your desktop
Business Events Toronto is helping meeting planners organize future events with their new Virtual Toronto online portal. Here, planners can (virtually) tour the Metro Toronto Convention Centre’s North and South buildings, Beanfield Centre (one of Canada’s greenest meeting spaces), and arrival experiences at the city’s two airports. Resources such as city maps and venue search tools, downloadable Zoom backgrounds, neighbourhood tours, as well as links to Business Events Toronto experts make it easy for planners to envision their events in Toronto.
Staying safe while meeting
Accor Hotels, which operate the iconic Fairmont hotel properties across Canada, has introduced the Accor ALLSAFE program: elevated protocols and standards to ensure guest safety throughout their hotels. Read more.
The Palais des congrès de Montréal has developed new innovative solutions that will enable events to go hybrid, in addition to new safe reopening guidelines.
Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Banff, Whistler and Victoria, Pacific Destination Services (PDS) and Cantrav, two award-winning destination management companies are lending their extensive expertise to a cross-industry working group collaborating on the protocols and logistics of safely reopening social spaces once business events can resume.
Understanding how business events fuel economic growth
Thank you to those who joined the conversation around Canada’s evolving strategy to attract business events and fuel economic growth during the Skift Forum Europe 2020 virtual conference, June 30, 2020. If you missed it, you can still learn how one ecosystem, strategically aligned between tourism, meetings and economic development benefits planners and host destinations; view the discussion here.
Canadian update on COVID‑19 response
The Government of Canada has a coordinated national response - in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments and international partners—to minimize the health, economic, and social impacts of this rapidly evolving public health issue. You can view the rate of infection in Canada, compared with Destination Canada’s key markets.
The world needs more Canada
Love from Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Canada is made up of friendly faces, iconic places and rich cultures worth celebrating every day, and although you can’t travel here at the moment, that doesn’t mean we can’t bring a little of Canada to you, virtually. Find inspiration for your next adventure, incentive or meeting enhancer, listen to the Canada Calling podcast, or download our virtual Zoom backgrounds for your own online events. Read more.
Stay connected to Team Canada
While many of our destination, hotel and DMC partners are currently furloughed due to the pandemic response, our full team remains intact and ready to help answer any questions you may have related to hosting business events in Canada. Feel free to reach out to us, and we’ll connect you to available partners. Of course we’d be happy to talk to you about future opportunities, too! Here’s how you can reach us.
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Jennifer Attersall
Director of Sales, Business Events
Destination Canada
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